Women’s Swimming Edges Tufts In Top-20 Battle

Junior Elise Stave

Jan 21, 2012

MEDFORD, Mass. – In a matchup of Top-20 teams it was the No. 6 MIT women's swimming and diving squad that came out on top as it defeated No. 18 Tufts by a final margin of 217.5-158.5. Three different Engineers won three events each to lead MIT to the win as it improved to 7-0 in dual meets this season.

MIT started the afternoon with an impressive win in the 200 Medley Relay. The team of freshman Eann Tuan (Richardson, Texas), sophomore Calley Murphy (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), junior Anna Kokensparger (Omaha, Neb.) and sophomore Christy Rogers (Bend, Ore.) turned in a 1:48.36, one of the fastest times that an MIT has ever clocked at this point in the season.

Kokensparger and Rogers went on to win three individual events each for the Engineers. Kokensparger started with a triumph in the 200 Fly, taking that race in 2:09.49. She the won the 100 Fly with a clocking of 58.54, before finishing the three wins off with a 2:12.19 time in the 200 IM.

Rogers picked up a pair of wins in breaststroke events, taking the 100 in 1:07.38 and the 50 with a time of 30.89. Her third victory came in the 50 Free where she touched first in 24.72.

Tuan also had a strong day for MIT, winning a pair of individual events. She started with a win in the 100 Back, taking the race with a time of 1:01.26. She later took the 50 Back, coming in with an effort of 27.74. Freshman Jane He (Yardley, Pa.) completed an MIT sweep if the backstroke events, swimming a strong 2:10.92 in the 200.

In diving, junior Elise Stave (Chapel Hill, N.C.) won the 1-meter competition for the Engineers. She won a close one, totaling 253.72 points to win by less than one point over Sami Bloom from Tufts.

Freshman Emily Ryan (Indianapolis, Ind.) was one of the three-event winners for MIT. She started the meet in impressive fashion when she won the 1,000 Free in a time of 10:37.71. She then came right back in the next event, the 200 Free, to win that as well with an effort of 1:57.43. She came back later in the meet with win number three, taking the 500 Free in 5:08.48. Freshman Nicole Ozminkowski (Saline, Mich.) turned in a great effort in the 500 Free as well, turning in a 5:22.62 to give MIT a 1-2 finish.

Next up for MIT will be a dual meet on Saturday, January 28 when the Engineers will host seventh-ranked Amherst College at 1:00 in the Zesiger Center Pool.